Apparatus for drying a wetsuit

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for drying a wetsuit (‘Dryer Cup’) is composed of an elongate member and a fluid receptacle. The dryer cup is configured such that the retained water in the wetsuit drains into the fluid receptacle. This allows the user to dry the wetsuit indoors without dripping water on the floor. The elongate member keeps the sleeves of the wetsuit open for air exchange. This improves dry time of the wetsuit, and allows for the option to introduce a fan or other method to improve air flow through the wetsuit garment.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

N/A

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of Invention

The embodiments of this invention relate to the drying of sportsequipment. More specifically the invention relates to the drying ofwetsuits used for insulation in water related activities.

Description of the Related Art

Water related activities often require wetsuits to protect the user fromthe cold, abrasion and provide buoyancy. Wetsuits and wetsuit boots aretypically made from foamed neoprene rubber. The neoprene rubber providesa barrier to the water and insulates. Wetsuit construction can alsoinclude fabrics, textiles and various densities of foams to providevarious levels of comfort, flexibility and insulation. These materialswill retain water after their use. The retained water can harborbacteria that cause odor and retained water is undesirable when the userrepeatedly wears the apparel. For these reasons it is desirable to drythe apparel quickly before the next use.

Drying wetsuits and wetsuit boots usually entails hanging the apparel toallow the water to run off the apparel and evaporate. Drying apparel canbe done outside where the water can drip onto the ground. However, whendrying the apparel indoors it can often be a challenge to find a goodplace to hang the wetsuit and let it drip dry due to water dripping offthe apparel on to the ground. Drying the wetsuit indoors is importantfor users in an apartment or an office setting where access to anoutdoor area is not possible.

There are some products on the market out there to address the challengeof drying a wetsuit indoors. Special hangers (U.S. Pat. No. 8,621,762)have been developed to speed up the drying process using fans tofacilitate the evaporation. Another product has been developed (U.S.Pat. No. 8,739,432) to facilitate the drying process by keeping thesleeve and leg holes open.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention, in brief, is a wetsuit dryer cup. The dryer cup iscomposed of a top surface, bottom surface, outside surface, insidesurface and fluid receptacle. The outside surface of the dryer cup isconfigured to fit inside the opening of the wetsuit garment. The outsidesurface of the dryer cup also provides a fluid pathway to the fluidreceptacle. The inner surface provides a pathway for air to enter thegarment. The fluid receptacle is configured to catch and retain waterthat flows off the outer surface of the dryer cup and the outside of thegarment. The dryer cup is inserted into the opening of the garment tocollect the fluid and provide a pathway for airflow to assist in thedrying of the garment.

In one embodiment of the invention, the outside surface fluid pathway isa helical groove. The helical groove is configured to be ‘threaded’ intothe garment opening such that the outside surface diameter is greaterthan the garment diameter and slightly stretches the garment to provideenough grip to hold the dryer cup in place where it can collect water.The inside surface provides an opening for air to easily enter and exitthe garment.

In another embodiment of the invention, the dryer cup is held in placeby flexible fingers that spring outwards to provide the grip necessaryto hold the cup in place.

In another embodiment of the invention, the outside surface fluidpathways are inner cuts that divide the outside surface of the inventioninto lobes, allowing the fluid to flow through.

In another embodiment an electric fan is mounted to the inner surface toforce air through the garment via a cylindrical channel in the middleportion of an elongate member.

The present invention may also include a fan system integrated into theoutside portion of the invention, which can be removed from theinvention. The outside portion can be attached to the inside portion ofthe invention, thereby creating a negative pressure inducing pathway forair flow that can multiply the rate of air flow into the wetsuitgarment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1. is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the dryercup.

FIG. 2. is a perspective view of a wetsuit.

FIG. 3. is a perspective view with dryer cups installed in the legopenings of a wetsuit.

FIG. 4. is a cross-section view of the dryer cup installed in the legopening of a wetsuit.

FIG. 5. is a perspective view of the dryer cup with flexible members.

FIG. 6. is a cross-section view of the dryer cup with electric fan inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7. is a perspective view of the dryer cup with two inner surfacesin accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8. is a cross-section view of the dryer cup with fluid and air flowvectors to show intended function of the invention.

FIG. 9. is a close-up view of the helical groove in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10. is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 11. is a perspective view of another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 12. is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of theinvention that may include different components in an assembly.

FIG. 13. is an exploded cross sectional view of the preferred embodimentshown in FIG. 12.

FIG. 14. is a cross sectional view of the preferred embodiment shown inFIG. 12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ELEMENTS

Specific embodiments of the disclosed device and method of use will nowbe described with reference to the drawings. Nothing in this detaileddescription is intended to imply that any particular component, feature,or step is essential to the invention.

FIG. 1 is a preferred embodiment of the dryer cup (1) where a tubularelongate member (2) is connected to a fluid receptacle (3). The elongatemember has cylindrical outer surface starting at a diameter (4) at thetop surface (5) and increases in diameter to a point down the outersurface towards the bottom surface (6). The outer surface reaches awidest point (7) that is wider than at the top surface (5) and isconfigured to be wider than the diameter of the garment. The outersurface decreases in diameter from the widest section (7) towards thebottom surface (6). At the bottom surface (6) the outer surfaceinterfaces with the fluid receptacle (3). The outer surface has twohelical grooves (8) that are 180 degrees apart. The helical groovesallow the user to thread the elongate member (1) into the garment andprovides a fluid pathway from the inside of the garment to the fluidreceptacle (3).

The fluid receptacle diameter (9) is greater than the greatest diameterof the outer surface (7). The fluid receptacle is configured to havesufficient volume to retain all of the water shed from the garment.

At the top surface (5), the outer surface interfaces with thecylindrical inner surface (10). The inner surface (10) extends from thetop surface (5) to the bottom surface (6). The inner surface (10) isconfigured to allow air to flow in and out of the garment.

FIG. 2. is a wetsuit (11). The wetsuit has openings at the neckline(12), end of the sleeves (13) and at the end of the legs (14).

FIG. 3. is a wetsuit (11) with a dryer cup (1) installed in each of theleg openings (14).

FIG. 4. is a cross-section of dryer cup (1) installed in an opening(13,14) of a garment. The garment engages the outside surface of theelongate member (2). The fluid receptacle (3) is attached to theelongate member (2) at the bottom surface (6). The cross-section viewclearly shows the inside surface (10) of the elongate member (2).

FIG. 5. is another embodiment of the dryer cup (1) where the elongatemember has a plurality of longitudinal slits (15) to create flexiblemembers (16).

FIG. 6. is a cross-section of a dryer cup (1) with an electric fan (17)mounted to the inner surface (10) of the elongate member (2).

FIG. 7. is a perspective view of the dryer cup with two elongate members(18) with one fluid receptacle (19) attached to both elongate members(18).

FIG. 8. is a cross-section view of the of the dryer cup (20) with fluid(21) and air (22) flow vectors to show intended function of theinvention.

FIG. 9. is a close-up view of the helical groove in one preferredembodiment (23).

FIG. 10. is another preferred embodiment of the dryer cup (24) where atubular elongate member with an increased material volume (25) isconnected to a fluid receptacle (26). The specific preferred embodimentin FIG. 10 functions similarly to the preferred embodiment described inFIG. 1, where the bulbous member attached to the elongate tubular memberis intended to be pushed inside of the opening of the wetsuit garmentsleeve. This embodiment may include cuts (27) in the bulbous member toallow for fluid flow from the garment into the fluid receptacle portion(26) of the embodiment.

FIG. 11. is another preferred embodiment of the dryer cup in which atubular elongate member (28) with a diameter intended to be larger thanthe garment sleeve opening may be included. The preferred embodiment mayinclude ridges (29) along the elongate member to aid in the insertion ofsaid elongate member into the wetsuit garment sleeve opening.

FIG. 12. is another preferred embodiment of the dryer cup in which theembodiment exists as three separate components; an outer component (30)an inner component (31) and a component designed to house an electricfan (32). This specific embodiment in FIG. 12. functions similarly tothe preferred embodiment described in FIG. 10, where the bulbous member(33) attached to the elongate tubular member is intended to be pushedinside of the opening of the wetsuit garment sleeve. This embodiment mayinclude cuts for fluid flow path as well.

FIG. 13. is an exploded cross sectional assembly view of the embodimentdescribed in FIG. 12. A possible attachment method between the outercomponent (30) and inner component (31) in the form of a threadedfeature (34) is demonstrated in FIG. 13. A possible location for theinsertion of an electric fan on the component designed to house anelectric fan (32) is shown (35). A possible attachment method betweenthe component designed to house an electric fan (32) and the outercomponent (30) in the form of shafts (36) and holes (37) is shown.

FIG. 14. is a cross sectional assembly view of the embodiment describedin FIG. 12. A possible air flow path driven by the location of anelectric fan (35) is shown (38). Such a path may increase the efficiencyof air flow through negative pressure air multiplication, while stillallowing external air to flow through the middle of the tubular elongatemember of the outer component (30). The external air flow path throughthe elongate member is demonstrated as shown (39)

1. A dryer cup to facilitate drying of garments comprising; At least oneelongate member, where the elongate member is substantially tube shapedhaving an outside surface, inside surface, top surface and bottomsurface. The outside surface is configured to engage the inside of thegarment opening. The inside surface is configured to provide an openingfor air exchange. A bowl shaped fluid receptacle which may be attachedto the elongate member to allow fluid to flow from the garment to theoutside surface and collect in the fluid receptacle.
 2. A dryer cup inclaim 1 where the outside surface diameter changes along its length
 3. Adryer cup in claim 1 that is comprised of two parts; At least one outercomponent that is able to be connected to and removed from an innercomponent, where the inner component is comprised of a bowl shaped fluidreceptacle attached to an elongate member.
 4. A dryer cup in claim 1where an electric fan is mounted to the inside surface to force airthrough the garment
 5. A dryer cup in claim 1 where an electric fan ismounted to the inside surface in such a way that allows for removal ofthe electric fan
 6. A dryer cup in claim 1 where an electric fan ismounted to the outside surface to force air through the garment
 7. Adryer cup in claim 1 where the outside surface has at least one helicalgroove that provides a pathway(s) for fluid to drain from the innersurface of the garment
 8. A dryer cup in claim 1 where the outsidesurface has at least one extruded cut that provides a pathway(s) forfluid to drain from the inner surface of the garment
 9. A dryer cup inclaim 1 where the elongate member has a plurality of longitudinal cutsto create flexible elongate members that flex for insertion into thegarment.